Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd cut its position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,900 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,977 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1,856.7% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 157.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 75.6% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 530.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on RF. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $23.82 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.89. Regions Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $24.47. The company has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.91% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 54.35%.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services.